Wed, 08 Sep 2004

The scenery isn't that bad; the problem is that it isn't that
good, either, and it goes on for way too long.

Interstate 80 is the flattest route through the state, the preferred
route of truckers, RV drivers, and pioneer wagon trains. Rather than
cresting each of the myriad north-south mountain ranges comprising
Nevada's "Basin and Range" geography, as highway 50 does, it follows
the Humboldt river nearly all the way across the state as it skirts
around the edges of each range.

Sometimes the billboards are funny. There was one proclaiming "Jesus
Lives!", with an attribution underneath for adsforgod.org.
Then in Winnemucca, a billboard advertised the smaller town of Battle
Mountain:

Battle Mountain
Voted the armpit of America
by the Washington Post
"We didn't know you were looking!"

A bit before Battle Mountain,
we passed the Thunder Mountain (something) Historical Site,
which seemed to be a shack built up haphazardly of sticks and odd
pieces of wood, decorated with whatever tschotchkes were handy.
I weren't able to get a good look, driving by on the Interstate.
I think I've found a picture on
the web, though.

Elko is a nice place to stop, though.
To begin with, it's full of Basque restaurants. I can only report on
one, the excellent Nevada Dinner House.

Basque food is funny. Every Basque restaurant I've experienced has
been very different; the only common element is that they all involve
large quantities, especially the bottomless soup tureen. The Basque
Cultural Center in south San Francisco approaches a fancy french
restaurant, with appetizers like esgargot and entrees heavy on
nicely done sauces. The severely overrated Woolgrowers, in Los
Baños, serves uninspired mass-produced cafeteria food.

Elko's Nevada Dinner House has a simple, but varied, menu, heavy on
steaks but with a good selection of seafood, pasta and other options.
This is the second time we've eaten there, and both times we've
been very impressed.
My prime rib was about the best I've ever had; Dave's pork chops
looked tempting too, with a nice herb crust on it (but nothing too
foofy) and applesauce on the side.
Salad, green beans, spaghetti in meat sauce, and french fries
(er, "pommes frittes") accompanied the meal, along with the
obligatory bottomless soup tureen (a moderately thick and tasty
concoction involving barley, beans, carrots, and, I think, ham).

After dinner we went looking for a place to buy some soft drinks,
and stumbled on a dollar store called "Honks" with a
well-stocked sunglasses rack.